Afghanistan’s Opium Poppy Cultivation Up, Production Down

Ever since the U.S.-led invasion of the country 11 years ago, farmers have been pushed to grow more benign crops such as wheat, pomegranates or cotton instead of opium poppies that are used to fuel the worldwide heroin trade.

However, a survey by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the Afghan Ministry of Counter Narcotics revealed that land under opium cultivation jumped 18 percent in 2012 to 380,000 acres.

Even so, potential opium production was down by 36 percent this year due to bad weather conditions and a poppy blight.